16 locals named to AP district girls basketball team

Bryan Walters bwalters@civitasmedia.com

March 5, 2014

ATHENS, Ohio — A total of 16 locals from both Gallia and Meigs counties — 15 athletes and one coach — were chosen to the Associated Press Southeast All-District Girls Basketball teams for the 2013-14 season, as selected by a panel of AP sports writers within the southeastern Ohio area.

Meigs County had 10 honorees and Gallia County added six choices to the respective teams within Division I, Division II, Division III and Division IV, which also included one player of the year choice and one coach of the year selection. Both special honors also happened to occur within the D-4 list from Meigs County.

Eastern senior Jenna Burdette — the school’s alltime leading scorer — captured her fourth consecutive player of the year honor in Division IV, while sixth-year EHS frontman John Burdette was chosen as the unanimous pick for D-4 coach of the year honors.

Burdette — a University of Dayton signee — picked up her first unanimous district POY selection after averaging 15.5 points, seven assists, five rebounds and four steals per game for the AP poll champions in D-4.

Eastern senior Jordan Parker earned her fourth selection to the AP district list after being chosen to the first team. Parker — a 1,000-point career scorer and an Alderson-Broaddus commit — led EHS in scoring with a 16.4 average.

Senior Erin Swatzel was a second-team selection after averaging 11 points per game for EHS, while classmates Maddie Rigsby and Katie Keller were both named to the third-team with respective averages of 8.4 and 8.0 points.

EHS freshman Laura Pullins also a special mention choice in D-4, giving the Lady Eagles an area-best seven honorees on the district squad.

Staying in Division IV, Southern landed two players on the district squad. Senior Celestia Hendrix was a second-team choice with an average of 16.4 points, while junior Cierra Turley was a third-team honoree with an 11.6 points per game average.

South Gallia also landed a pair on the D-4 squad, led by senior Rachel Johnson. Johnson averaged 12.9 points and earned second-team honors, while sophomore Mikayla Poling was a third-team choice with an 11.3 points per game average.

River Valley had two players chosen to the Division III teams, as sophomore Leia Moore was a third-team choice with an average of 10.1 points. Junior Chelsea Copley was a special mention selection in D-3, as was Meigs junior Kelsey Hudson.

Gallia Academy landed two players on the Division II list, both a pair of juniors. Micah Curfman was a third-team honoree with an average of 12.4 points, while Kendra Barnes was a special mention choice.

Dominique Doseck of Athens (D-2) and Terra Stapleton of Fairland (D-3) were the players of the years in their respective divisions. Wayne Horsley (Athens) and Matt Walburn (Jackson) shared D-2 COY honors, while Doug Hale (Oak Hill) came away with COY honors in Division III.

A complete list of the 2013-14 AP Southeast District teams can be found at www.mydailytribune.com